View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Politics
  2. Health
2 April 2013

Chart of the day (slight return): Deadly earthquakes

By Alex Hern

The Lancet is leading with a series of articles on health inequalities in Europe, and while the series as a whole is fascinating, there was one chart in particular which stood out for me, in the article “Health and health systems in the Commonwealth of Independent States”:

Image

Take a closer look at Armenia’s life expectancy. That’s the effect of the Spitak earthquake, which killed at least 25,000 people, and left half a million homeless. It was so deadly that it marked the first time since World War II that the Soviet Government asked the USA for humanitarian aid – and it lowered life expectancy by a decade.

The chart also shows a lesser, but more prolonged, plummet in life expectancy in Tajikistan, around 1993. That’s the effects of the Tajik civil war, which lasted five years and killed up to 100,000 people.

For obvious reasons, the Lancet piece doesn’t examine those one-off events. And “avoid earthquakes and civil wars” isn’t the most useful advice to a nation trying to improve its life expectancy. But as a powerful display of data, there’s not much that can improve on that chart.

Content from our partners
The promise of prevention
How Labour hopes to make the UK a leader in green energy
Is now the time to rethink health and care for older people? With Age UK

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU